You're arranging a easy buffet for 20 people. What are you serving?

[LordOfTheThings]

You don't have time to put loads of things in and out the oven and would like to make as much as possible early in the day.

Did I mention that you are a shit cook so it needs to be simple?

Oh and if doing the cheese/bread choice I'd do a tray of meaty sausage rolls and a tray of veggie ones too.

Roast ham / beef / pork ( done the day before)
Cheese board.

Selection of bread & picking pits like Olives crisps mini bezels, salty nuts, ... (can all be bought in advance)
Cold roast new potatoes.

If you feel adventures add a selection of Salads.

That's my lazy go to buffet!

Boiled potatoes with pesto and bacon
Baguette
Cheeses and spreads (no dips)
Different sandwiches- cheese, ham, jam
Supermarket ready made sausage rolls, pork pies, quiches (already cut up to avoid touching)
Individual packets of crisps
Plates of veg and fruit with cocktail sticks in

Pitchers of juice, a cocktail (pimms is easy), bottles or cans of pop
If kids are there- chicken nuggets, mini cheddar bags, party ring bags, juice boxes.

For those complaining about covid + food- if you're at a party you're more likely to catch it from the person sat next to you than from sharing a bowl of olives. If everyone's testing and aware then it's a risk they have chosen take :)

My mum always does a sausage and apple plait, it’s like a bloody obsession 😂

Depends on my budget. If money is no object I'd do as a PP suggested and do tapas style...I'd make Spanish omelets in the morning and cut them up, olives, charcuterie, the little feta stuffed peppers, crusty bread, cheeses, pate, chutney, and bowls of tomatoes/cucumber/carrot sticks.

Lamb klefiko in the slow cooker with potatoes in.
Tzatziki etc dips
Pittas/ wraps
Roasted vegetables (maybe with feta depending on needing a vegan option) with herbs
Rice in the microwave (rinse basmati, double the amount of boiling water to rice in a lidded pot, 13mins on medium, 10 mins with the lid still on)
Salad
Maybe chicken souvlaki / halloumi kebabs if I had the inclination.

Go to Iceland and the like and get a party platter thing along with other bits and pieces. I generally serve little pizzas, mini sausage rolls, pickled onions, a variety of cheeses, onion bhajis, samosas, little sausages, multi-packs of crisps, sandwiches with different fillings, little cakes, small chocolate eclairs, mozzarella cheese bites, spring rolls, garlic bread, tiny cheesecakes, macarons etc (meat and meat-free versions of most things). No-one goes hungry, it doesn't cost much and because it's all frozen you don't have to serve the full pack of everything so there's limited waste.

I think the easiest thing is to do hot stuff, borrow two slow cookers, cook two veggie/ vegan dishes and rice, gf and easy.
You can of course do cold stuff too.
I think I’d make a curry and bolognaise with gf pasta.
Maybe a fruit salad, relatively cheap, and easy

A pork shoulder in the slow cooker ready to pull into shreds at the last minute

Jacket spuds in the oven

A side of salmon wrapped in foil topped with salt and pepper, dill and lemon, ready to pop in about half an hour before the spuds are done.

A big coleslaw (deli bought) decanted into a nice bowl

A big garden salad

Some shop bought quiches

A cheeseboard

Oh and some nice bread and some real butter.

Crisps, breadsticks, rolls,

Ready made or prepared ahead of time slightly salads - inc pasta/rice/cous cous salads which are super easy, especially cous cous

Crudites - carrot batons, celery sticks, cucumber and peppers cut into sticks

Bought dips (though again very easy to make yourself)

Cheese selection

Ready made picnic bits - sausage rolls, mini scotch eggs, pork pies (mini or slice large ones into wedges), feta parcels, samosas, spring rolls,

Cold cuts/deli slices - ham, sliced chicken, turkey, pastrami, sliced roast beef etc

Accompaniments - pickles, olives, coleslaw, potato salad, sundried tomatoes, vine leaves,

Put out squeezy bottles of Mayo, salad cream and ketchup maybe brown sauce too

Fruit for after - grapes, strawberries, blackberries...

Individual cakes/sweet treats for after - fairy cakes I always think work better than cupcakes, mini doughnuts, mini tarts and pastries

Gluten free just green flag the stuff that's ok for them and present separated?

If you've got a diagnosed coeliac, @LordOfTheThings, you need to be careful of cross-contamination tbh. Even crumbs can do it, or gluten in dressings and sauces.

I agree with pp that you should focus the carbs on rice salad and potato salad. If you have bread, put it on a different surface/table.

gluten free: lots of 'stick' shaped veg, like peppers, cucumber, carrots that go nicely in dips. If you're American like me you would include sticks of raw brocoli, courgette & cauliflower, too. This is my favourite buffet thing.

Morrisons party platters ready done
Look at their website you couldn't create them yourself for the money

Thank you everyone, some fantastic ideas.

I'm going for:

Crisps (all gluten free)
Dips & salsa
Olives
Stuffed peppers
Feta salad
Rice salad
Charcuterie board
Coleslaw
Homemade mini crustless quiches
Chicken skewers with satay sauce
Mozerella, basil, tomato skewers
Pate
Cheeses

I'll have gluten free bread (she told me which one she likes) and normal baguette which will be kept and cut in the utility room until it's needed. Nothing else will have gluten in it and I'll plate up some pate and butter for her so no one gets crumbs in the butter etc.

For pud I'm doing Eton mess and a fruit platter.

Does that sound ok?

Sounds delicious OP. I would absolutely love all of that

It sounds perfect. Your guests are very
Lucky

That sounds great 👍

I would bake lots of large potatoes until they're lovely and brown with leathery jackets. Set up a buffet of butter/salt and lots of fillings with some salad.